They're Off to College Now / Choosing what and how much to eat becomes a freshman survival skill

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

A quiet revolution is simmering on the steam tables of America's college dining halls.

Industrial-sized cooking kettles are giving way to individualized wok stations. Cafeterias are being remodeled to resemble food courts and restaurants. Tortillas and rice are served alongside sliced bread and potatoes.

Some dining halls deliver late- night pizzas from wood-burning ovens. Others, like those at the University of California at Davis, encourage students to submit their favorite family recipe so it can be prepared for the whole school.

Even the Bay Area's best food professionals are pitching in. Chef- instructors from the Culinary Institute of America's Greystone campus have started teaching university cafeteria cooks to break away from oversized pans of muddy beef stroganoff and instead cook vibrantly flavored couscous, Thai curry and vegetarian lasagna.

But a big hurdle stands in the way of all this change -- college students themselves.

Many aren't joining the campus culinary revolution. Although they say in surveys they want salads and stir-fries, they're still eating pizza and french fries. And many find that the pressures of school coupled with erratic schedules and changing self- image lead to simple weight gain or more severe eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia.

Freshmen in particular often make poor eating choices. Away from diets regulated by family meals and facing a more sedentary, competitive and stress-filled routine, they find solace on the cafeteria line. They have unlimited access to 24-hour ice cream machines, trays of bacon and burgers and as many french fries as they care to eat at one sitting.

Sarah Staner, 22, a mass communications student at the University of California at Berkeley, gained 10 pounds her freshman year. She attributes the gain to two things: too many visits to a doughnut bar at breakfast and eating the same, mostly starchy diet almost every meal.

"One time I went to dinner with my roommate and friend and they just laughed because I was eating what I ate almost every day: a salad with dressing on the side, pasta with butter and cheese and a giant bowl of Lucky Charms."

Other students use food to combat homesickness and a sense that they're losing control of their lives, and often develop eating disorders.

"College is an emotional pressure cooker for a lot of students and they don't realize how fast eating can get away from you," says Sharlene Hesse-Biber, an author and Boston College sociologist who specializes in nutrition and eating disorders.

"People use food as a way to comfort them or to control things in a world where they can't control anything else. Pair that with the pressures of college and you've got a charged situation for students."

Estimates of serious eating disorders for college-age women -- and experts say the overwhelming majority of affected students are women -- range from 1 percent for anorexics to as much as 15 percent for bulimics.

Liz Applegate, a professor at UC Davis, teaches beginning nutrition to about 2,000 freshman every year. Overeating and eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia aren't uncommon at the campus of 24,000 students, she says, because young people simply don't have the tools to take care of their own eating habits.

"A lot of them come out of families where they were not sitting down for meals. Suddenly they find themselves sitting with dorm buddies and overeating because they're spending more time at the table," she says.

In response, some schools offer special classes designed to teach incoming students how to handle their newfound freedom.

"When students go off to college, one of the first things they demonstrate is that they can make choices. But they usually realize that they make some dumb choices," says George Chang, a nutrition professor at the University of California at Berkeley who teaches a freshman survival skills seminar. "The dorm cannot cook like everybody's mother, so it is up to the student to control what he eats."

"I'd have a grilled chicken breast sandwich like every day," she said. "I think drinking has a lot to do with it. I didn't drink in high school but when you go away to school you drink a lot, especially when you're a freshman. That, and no exercise, hurt me."

Colleges and universities combat the problem through a mix of revamped menus and renovated dining halls along with counseling and programs that emphasize nutrition. Almost every campus displays the calories and fat grams of dishes being served. Student health centers have counselors specially trained in treating eating disorders.

At some schools, cafeteria workers are trained to recognize students who might have a problem associated with food.

"If someone comes in and all they ever get is raw salad, we might note that. Another tip would be someone who comes in and gets five doughnuts, six cookies, a bowl of cereal and two glasses of chocolate milk and takes a long time to eat it. If that happens repeatedly, we'll pay attention."

Although all of this sounds grim, university dining hall managers say students are slowly becoming more interested in healthier eating. And today's freshman class is more ethnically diverse with more sophisticated tastes, making it easier to introduce improved styles of eating.

Requests for vegetarian options are on the rise. At the University of California at Santa Cruz, some 20 percent of the 3,000 students eating at campus dining halls identify themselves as vegan or vegetarian. About six years ago, dining hall managers there began creating vegetarian dishes but used lots of cheese. The students complained about the fat, says Elise Levinson, who is in charge of the food program at the school, and the recipes have since been refined. Using a recipe exchange on the Internet, the food service staff secured innovative recipes for vegetarians and vegans that feature soy products like tempeh and tofu. "Now we have a vegan brownie that is fabulous," she says.

Among other examples of the new approach to campus dining: -- For the first time, a dining hall at UC Berkeley will be open until midnight to accommodate students' erratic eating schedules. Other menus feature smoothies, quesadillas and stir-fried dishes made in small batches. The executive chef, who strolls through the dining room in his toque, will offer cooking demonstrations. -- At UC Santa Cruz, popular dishes are sushi and "casserettes" -- individual casseroles heated just before serving so the top is browned and bubbly. The school also has a student pizza cooperative on campus. -- A staff dietitian is available to meet individually with students at UC Davis, where tabletop cards explore food-related topics like the USDA food pyramid or fat in food. Davis also offers theme meals based on different foods, such as Pacific Rim cuisine.

Despite such innovations, change isn't easy at college campuses. Many are saddled with staff who lack the skills to cook smaller, healthier and more flavorful dishes and with old kitchens designed for industrial-strength cooking. Many don't even have gas burners.

"They have people who have been making the same rice and broccoli for 20 years, and they're scared of cooking new things like couscous or rice noodles or even tamales," says CIA chef-instructor Lars Kronmark, who worked with NACUFS to create a program that teaches university chefs new ways to cook.

"My opening statement when I talk to them is always, 'Why can you go down the street and get a very good dish of noodles and asparagus with an Asian sauce, but you come back here to campus and get soggy pasta with snow peas that aren't green anymore?' " he says. "Students know good food today, so you have to cook so they will eat it."

But even if every college kitchen in the country put out perfectly prepared, healthy food, students would still go for the comfort, ease and indulgence of fried, starchy foods, many university food service directors agree.

"They want the option for healthier food even though they might not take it," says the University of Missouri's Kiehn. "We'd have a rebellion if we took burgers and fries off the menu."

SURVIVAL TIPS FOR PARENTS AND COLLEGE STUDENTS

Eating healthy at college isn't impossible, but it takes some work. The following tips for parents and students is based on interviews with college nutritionists, dietitians, psychologists and California college students who survived the freshman year: -- Accept the fact that dorm food is not going to be as good as home cooking. Try to focus on the variety of choices and find dishes that you like and provide some nutritional value. -- Don't eat meals while you study. Set aside a separate time to eat so you can enjoy your food. -- Rent a mini-refrigerator for your dorm room and stock up on healthy fruit juices and nonfat milk for quick breakfast drinks. -- Have on hand plenty of small, crunchy snacks: pretzels, vegetables, popcorn, rice cakes and the like. Also, have some heartier food like canned tuna, dried fruit, protein bars, cereal and fresh fruit that can serve as a quick breakfast or lunch. You'll be less likely to pick up the phone and order that late-night pizza. -- If you don't want to go to the dining hall, find out if your dorm has a kitchen. Most do, even if they're only equipped with toaster ovens and microwaves. Often, it's easier and healthier to prepare a frozen, low-calorie meal than turn to fast food, take-out pizza or vending machine snacks. -- Since physical education class is no longer required, get some other exercise. Take the stairs, use the campus gym or recreation center, walk to new parts of campus. -- Watch what you drink. Beers pack calories -- lots of them -- not to mention other side effects. Soda consumption can add up, too. Most sugared sodas have about 150 calories. -- Try to find a dining plan that allows students to pay for what they eat, rather than one that allows unlimited access to the cafeteria. It keeps students from feeling pressure to eat more, and allows them to think more carefully about what they are choosing. -- If you feel your eating habits are out of control -- that you're eating too much or not enough -- get professional help. Counselors are available at guidance centers or health centers on every campus. -- Parents should be gentle when dealing with a students who are gaining or losing weight. Don't tell them they look terrible when they come home from Thanksgiving 15 pounds heavier or lighter. Instead, talk to your children about their diet and focus on feelings, not looks. And listen first. Don't try to immediately fix whatever problem is causing the weight gain or loss. -- Relax. In most cases, students settle into reasonable eating patterns by spring semester.

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.